MSNBC town hall event in Miami, Florida, on Wednesday, President Barack Obama called out Americans for not showing up to the polls on Election Day 2014. Obama insisted that if America had the same voter turnout as countries where 60 to 70 percent of the eligible voting population participates, Congress would have passed comprehensive immigration reform by now.

The United States' preeminent place on the global stage has undergone significant changes in the last 50 years. A report by Business Insider in 2014 showed China has now overtaken the U.S. in terms of Gross Domestic Product when adjusted for purchasing power.

Several factors have contributed to the decline of the U.S. dollar, which has been on a steady trend for some time now. Online Accounting Schools explains the strength of the currency as it relates to three aspects: globalization, inflation, and credit rating.

Globalization:

NATIONAL -- The term "career politician" has a negative connotation to it. It is often used on the campaign trail to cast a negative light on an incumbent. Sometimes, it works, and sometimes it doesn't. The accusation against lawmakers referred to as the "establishment" has reshaped Congress in a major way, and big names like former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor have lost their seats.

However, Is being a career politician really a bad thing?

If a lawyer wants to practice law in a state, he or she must first pass the state's bar exam. If a teacher wants to work in a school, they are tested to be credentialed. Before entering the police force, applicants go through a rigorous training and screening process. Before becoming a doctor, medical school graduates must pass a licensing exam.

And yet, aside from needing a proper image and campaigning, there is not a formal test for those seeking public office. Perhaps there should be, considering recent events in several state legislatures:

P.T. Barnum dazzled early American audiences with what he often advertised as genuine fakes -- and the public ate it up.

Throughout the 20th century, urban legends and hoaxes abounded. From the great cabbage hoax to moon-landing conspiracies, commonly believed falsehoods entered the collective "knowledge" of humanity.

But studying and debunking these falsehoods has been around just as long, even being one of the first studied phenomenons within the modern field of psychology.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Thursday approved new rules that will reclassify the Internet as a utility under Title II of the Telecommunications Act so "net neutrality" policies can survive judicial scrutiny. The vote fell along party lines, with the 3 Democratic commissioners voting in favor of the 332-page plan and the two Republican commissioners voting against it.

NATIONAL -- Earlier this month, VA Secretary Bob McDonald got into a heated argument with a member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee while defending his efforts to turn around the scandal-ridden agency. Specifically, he called out U.S. Representative Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), a veteran of both Iraq wars, over his comments regarding McDonald's tenure.

NATIONAL -- The 2014 midterm elections were a huge victory for Republicans; they regained control of the Senate and increased their majority in the House of Representatives. But there was another winner in the election cycle that hasn’t been talked about much: money.

CAPITOL HILL -- The Hill reported Wednesday that the U.S. Senate voted to open debate on a DHS funding bill, breaking the stalemate between members of the Republican and Democratic parties. The 98-2 vote came after both sides in the Senate agreed to debate a funding bill that does not include provisions that would reverse President Obama's executive actions on deferred deportations.

NATIONAL -- There is no doubt that there are some IVN readers who support some form of proportional representation, often seen as a voting scheme that maximizes representation and makes every vote count.

But the real question is, what would be the avenue to implement proportional representation nationwide? What are the roadblocks and potential legal challenges?

To answer these questions, we have to examine the history of how we got to our current two-party voting system.